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Twins at Godwin.

Identical twins occur once every 254 births. In the US, fraternal twins occurred
about once every 83 births before about 1963. In year 2007 the incidence of twins is
complicated by the widespread use of fertility drugs, and the rate is down
to about one in 31 births. And the odds for having fraternal twins go up with
age. As women in year 2007 postpone having children until their later years,
this too means more twins. The figures above are probably close enough for
the years 1963 and before.

This section is meant to look at twins at Godwin in 1963 and before. One
section covers identical twins, and another fraternal. It's likely that
most classes had no identical twins at all, but might well have had one
or more sets of fraternal twins.

Twins contests have been held for decades. One can see from the meeting of
the International Twins Association that there are many categories of judging
for twins contests.

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Below is a glimpse of a twins contest held around July, 20, 1976. In the
bottom photo one can see Patsy and Polly Goeman at the left.

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Unspoken, the meets are probably only for identical twins.
A seeming oxymoron, one category is the most unidentical identical twins.
While not known in 1946, there are now known to be genetic reasons why
identical twins might not appear so similar. The phenomena of semi-identical
twins.

Clearly the women get in to the event more than the men. The women obtain
an edge by dressing alike. The men, well, they don't. Or maybe those above
are in the most unidentical identical twin contest...

The entries below need confirmation in some cases. Most have been
select based on the fact that two people have the same last name and
graduated in the same year. The more uncommon the last name is the more
likely it will be that this strategy is successful. In some cases the entries
will be simply wrong, and any feedback to this effect will be appreciated.

The list is likely very incomplete. In some cases one of the twins will
have dropped out, which was more common 60 or so years ago than today.
In other cases some will have moved away just before graduating. And finally,
the birth rate for fraternal twins suggests there should be many more names
on the list. During WWII people died and male twins were split up.

Identical twins

Class of 1933

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Emmaline and Vera Mae Strehle.

Based on 1933 class photograph. The twins are on the left and right sides of
the photo.

Class of 1950

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Allen W. and Elwood H. Knight.

Class of 1952

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Keith and Kenneth Poirier.

Class of 1953

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Bonnie and Yvonne Cady.

Class of 1954

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Ray and Roy Keech

Class of 1959

In a twist on the words
found in Orwell's "Animal Farm," some identical twins are more identical than others.
Patsy and Polly Goeman entered and won contests to find the most similar twins.
Since identical means the same, it seems ironic that some identical twins are
more distinguishable than other. The piece below is an example of a contest,
and shows that they won contests at a state level.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

According to an authority, Polly, Pasty is on the left. Polly also says the
women continued to go to twins contests for years after graduating from Godwin.
One such event is held, naturally, in Twinsburg, OH.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

An early photo of the twins. Polly is on the left. They were 2 or 3 at the time.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

The Goeman family in about 1953.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

Patsy is on the left.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

A bedroom for identical people. The two halves are almost mirror images.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

Another twin contest. Recognizing that people do change as they age,
apparently there were defined aged groups for the competitions.

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Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

Notice the old airport terminal just to the right of Polly's head. The women
lived on Jefferson Avenue during their Godwin days, and could delight in the
sights and sounds of the old airport, as well as easily walk to Godwin.

Patsy and Polly attended airline training school after graduation. It seems
that at the time one had to be 21 years old to fly, and the women were 19. So
their first jobs were as ticket agents or reservationists, but not as
stewardesses. Neither ever did fly. There was also a requirement that
stewardesses could not be married. In year 2007 the airlines might be sued out
of business for policies like these, but at the time they seemed to make sense.

Left click on the image below for a larger version.

Material provided by Polly Goeman, class of 1959.

Co-vice presidents of the Michigan Twins Association after graduating from
highschool, Polly, left, and Patsy Goeman had arranged for a tour of the Kent
County Jail was organized through their father, Martin Goeman, at the right.
The photograph is dated July 24, 1961. The next day there would be a contest
to determine the most identical twins.

Class of 1962

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Sandra and Sue A. DeCoux

Fraternal twins

Class of 1927

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Esther and Josina Vanden Burg

Class of 1933

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Merle and Wilbur Hoppie

The twins are in the upper right and lower left corners.
It's not clear that both graduated. This is based on
a tenth grade photograph in the 1931 annual, "The Acorn."
It's quite possible they are identical twins.

Class of 1934

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Clarence and Louise Sikkema.

From a 9th grade photograph in the 1931 class annual, "The Acorn."
Louise is in the bottem left corner and Clarence is in the upper right corner.

Class of 1935

Eileen and Myrtle Slotman. There is no available photograph, even from
earlier annuals. Perhaps they moved in to the district when they were in
the 9th grade or later, in which case they would appear in no annual.
It's also possible they are identical twins, but this can't be known for now.
The odds are they are fraternal, so for now this is how they will be categorized.

Class of 1938

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Esther and Leona Leggett

Class of 1940

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Andrew and Johanna Kommer

Class of 1941

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Anthony and Ethel Mihalik

Class of 1942

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Dora and Elmer Leggett

Class of 1942

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Donna, Edwin, and Gerald Hess.

Two of the three are possibly twins. A guess is
Donna nad Gerald, but this needs verification.

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Guilda and Harry Wilson. Needs confirmation - Wilson is a common name.

Class of 1943

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Barbara and Charles Knapp

Class of 1947

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Geraldine and Kenneth Lemmon

Class of 1947

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Geraldine Hansen. No senior photo for Clarence Hansen available.

Class of 1949

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Joyce and Patricia Ziemann.

Class of 1952

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Lillian and James Jefferys

Class of 1954

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Mike and Nancy Collins

Class of 1955

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Irving and Maridene De Young

Class of 1956

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Patricia and Peggy Hendrickson. It's possible these are identical twins.